


“Again, But Better”

by KAJIE_wassup14



Category: Umbrella Academy
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:21:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25828123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KAJIE_wassup14/pseuds/KAJIE_wassup14
Summary: So a new member is added into the Hargreeves family: Number Eight, aka Zoe. She enters the family as a nature controller and is seriously attracted to Ben. She saves him from dying basically and they live happily ever after.(Idk I’m definitely not the best at summaries)
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves/ original female characters
Kudos: 2





	“Again, But Better”

It’s raining naturally.  
That’s the first thing you focus on. Not the fact that a boy has knives in his hands, not the fact that he is a young boy, about 13 years of age, the same as you, not the fact that he is standing right next to you, not the fact that, well, you just electrocuted a person.   
Welp isn’t that great.  
You raise your face to the sky and blink as a raindrop lands on your nose. You breathe in the cool night sky and close your eyes for awhile. The boy next to you breaks the silence.   
“Why did you electrocute him?”  
You frown. “He killed my family. My mom, my dad, my sister.”  
The boy turns to face you now, and you turn around to look at him, crossing your arms on your chest.   
He stares at you for a moment, and slowly puts his knives back in his pockets.  
“My name is Number Two. I’m sorry, I didn’t know about that.” He hesitates. “I know this might not be a good time, but, how do you have powers?”  
You huff. “You realize he only got seven of ‘em,” you say pointedly, “you’re not the only ones with powers. My powers allow me to meddle with natural events, like storms and water and whatsoever. You should be glad I electrocuted the guy instead of drowning him.”  
He raises his eyebrows and nods.   
“So I was thinking, since you have powers, you could go to the Umbrella Academy? My house, basically.”  
You think about it for a moment and wonder, why not, I already lost everything, and nod. Number Two walks forward and offers you an umbrella. You take it and trudge behind him.

You arrive at a tall building, with metal gates and huge doors with umbrellas on them, and you shuffle your feet nervously. You heard everything about the Umbrella Academy before but you weren’t ready for this, since you dreamed about coming here with your sister and living among the extraordinary superheroes. Both of you used to have a huge crush on Six and you would both giggle at your fantasies. Funny that she’s gone now, you think, but I’m glad mom and dad are gone. Your parents never loved you, since you were the reason why they had such a miserable life. Mom had given birth to you during high school, and believed truly that she could make it through with dad. They did, but you just got more troublesome over the years, throwing tantrums and bringing storms with them. So, they decided to give birth to another, your little sister, who got all the love of the family, including yours, but this time the feeling was mutual. She was the light of your life, and she was only ten...  
Two’s knock on the door snaps you back to the present. You quickly pat down your hair and adjust your stance. A woman with curly blond hair in a perfect hairdo answered the door, and you couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was, with blue eyes, a skirt and a bright happy smile. She looks at Two and her smile brightens up a notch.   
“Welcome home, Two,” she looks at me, “and I see you’ve brought a new friend. Should I tell your father and the other children?”   
Two beams and says: “Hi Mom! Yeah, tell dad and the others that I found another kid with powers and that she’s staying with us.” The woman nodded and opened the door for us before briskly walking off. Two motions for you to follow him, and you do, marveling at the structure of the building and the different objects decorating the place along the way.   
Two looks over shoulder and grins. “Come on, lets go, father and the others will be waiting for us.”  
You nod wordlessly, and follow him down the hall. He leads you to an open room with, most notably, a deer antler, and you look at the multiple faces staring at you. There’s a blond haired boy with a doubtful expression on his face, a brown-skinned girl with curly hair and a warm smile, a green-eyed boy with a confident stance, a curly haired boy with a crazy grin, a cute Asian boy looking at you for one second and down at the ground another, and finally a straight brown haired girl with bangs, standing off to the side. Two introduces them to you, but of course you recognized all of them. One, Three, Five, Four, Six, you remember with a pang that that was you and your sisters crush, and Seven. You nod and smile at each one of them and they do the same.  
You hear the door click open and you turn around, seeing a man with a monocle walk through the door and next to him, an ape with a cane and glasses. You retreat next to Seven and stare at the man. He studies you up and down.  
“Children, I believe you’ve already met this young lady. Grace has just informed me that she will be staying with us from now on, and that she also has powers.” He looks at you. “From now on, you will be known as Number Eight. Show us your powers.”  
You decide that you didn’t like this guy, but you knew that this was the only chance of survival for you.  
“My powers are best seen outside. It may cause damage to the house.” You say.  
Mr. Monocles, you decide to call him, nods and leads the way to an open courtyard and orders the children to give you space.   
Outside, it stopped raining, but as you close your eyes and concentrate, soon you hear the familiar sound of thunder. You open your eyes, which you’re sure are now stormy gray, and hold up your hand. Winds form and aggressively attack at the trees. Lightning claps and strikes the ground you pointed at. The rain doesn’t land on you. You close your fist, and everything stops with a pop! You then turn around, looking at the children, expecting them to have horror-filled faces, and expecting the man to stare at you. They did, all except Four and Six, who both looked at you in wonder, and Seven, who looked at you with a hint of envy, and Mr Monocles, who looked at you interestingly. You muster your most innocent smile to signal that the show was finished. The sun came back and shone on their faces. You catch the big brown eyes of Six, and you can’t help but notice how he glowed in the sunlight. You wanted to ruffle his hair so bad.   
“Well then,” Mr. Monocles said, “that was quite a show.” He walked away without another word and the mom turned to the children with a big smile plastered on her face.  
“Children, it’s time for dinner.”

***********

Later that evening, when mom, who you learned to be Grace, had settled you down in your room, you plopped down on the bed and picked out your favorite book: Again, but better, and started to read. It always brought back comforting memories because you used to read it to your sister before bed and she used to giggle at your face when you mimicked a character. After a few pages, however, it was just too much, and you squeezed your eyes shut. It’s as if she never existed, you think, as if she never participated in my life. A knock on the door jolts you out of your thoughts. You expected it to be Grace, or Two, so you were surprised when Six peeked in.   
“Hi,” he said, and smiled shyly, “sorry to intrude but I was just checking if everything was fine.” He noticed the book on your lap. “Woah, Again, but better? You’ve read that book?”  
You glance down at your book and lean back.   
“Yeah, it’s one of my favorites, actually. I used to read it as a bedtime story for my sister.” You say, feeling a smile form on your lips.  
“Cool!” He exclaimed, stepping into the room a bit more, “My favorite is definitely Harry Potter, though, you’ve read that before, right?”  
You grin and nod. Six opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by a knock on the door. Two and Four push their heads through and grin. Four speaks up first.   
“Whatcha doin?” He asks coyly, a sly smile on his face.  
“Uh, nothing.” Six answers, “we were just talking about books.”  
You chime in. “Do you guys know when we’re supposed to go to sleep and wake up?”  
As if on cue, Grace drops by and stands near the doorway behind the boys. “It’s time for bed children, and Eight, I’ll fix up your schedule for you tonight.”  
You nod your thanks and wave goodbye to the others. Two and Four sling their arms around Six’s shoulders, who waves a small goodbye, and leaves.  
You flop back on the bed and close your eyes. What a crazy day.

***********

The next morning you wake to the sound of a knock against your door. You roll over and check the time. 7 am. You sigh and rub your eyes, running your fingers through your hair. You clear your throat and call out “Come in” before stepping out of bed and stretching. Grace opens the door and steps in, closing it behind her.  
“Good morning Eight.”  
You frown slightly at the name, but when she smiles at you you smile back as well.  
“Here’s your schedule. I’ll leave it on your table. I measured your body last night and here’s your uniform. Breakfast is in half an hour.”  
“Thanks Grace,” you say, turning to the table and then remembering something else, “by the way, I was thinking about it last night, so maybe we could name the children? Like actual names instead of numbers?”  
Grace smiles at that. “Of course! What a great idea. What do you want to be called?”  
You ponder it for a moment. And smile. A new name, a new identity. You decided to name yourself after the word meaning life.  
“Zoe. My name shall be Zoe.”  
Grace nods and asks: “Any suggestions about the others?”  
You think about it for a moment, and decide to do a little trick. “How about we name Six Ben?”  
Three letters, just like your name.

***********

After personal training ended you walked out of the room, energy wasted and completely exhausted. You find Six— er, Ben, sitting there with a book waiting for you.  
You grin and hop forward, all signs of exhaustion wiped away. “Hey Ben, whatcha doin?”  
He looked up and scrunched his eyebrows. Your heart hammered in your chest and it screamed he’s so cute!!! as you sat down next to him.  
“Why do you sound like Klaus?”  
You laugh and shake your head. “I mean it’s pretty catchy. Must’ve stuck in my head.”  
He smiled at your laugh. “It’s really cool of you to suggest giving us names, by the way.”  
You nod happily. “I can’t believe Five chose not to, though.” You then frown slightly. Ben notices and stands up, holding his hand out for you.  
“Don’t mind him. Your name is awesome, by the way. Zoe.” He smiles and a shiver of pleasure goes up your spine. To hear him say your name like that... You take his hand and stand up next to him, blushing slightly and scolding yourself for doing so. Ben leads you down the hall and takes you back to your room, silent along the way, giving you time to cool down and get yourself together. You never thought that your slight crush on Six turned into a huge crush on Ben. His hand was so warm and soft and so gentle... He stops abruptly at your door and turns to you. You gaze into his eyes and marvel at his long eyelashes. He meets your gaze and you both just stand there, hand in hand, staring at each other. He clears his throat and looks away.  
“So I was thinking, maybe I could drop by your room tonight? You know, just to read. With you. I mean it would be nice to have some quiet company. Only if you would like that, of course.”  
Your smile turns into a grin.  
“Of course! It’d be nice to have somebody with me. You can drop by whenever. Though you might wanna knock.”  
Ben smiles at that and lets go of your hand, causing your heart to drop slightly, but you then remind yourself that you’ll have time with him soon, and you wave at him before stepping into your room and closing the door. You lean against the door with a sigh, sliding down slowly and burying your face into your knees. You were really losing it, falling in love with your sister’s crush right after your sister’s death. Yet Ben seemed to like you back, since he didn’t seem to be affectionate at anyone else other than Klaus and Diego, who you were also very comfortable with. It’s just none of them were Ben. Sweet, smart, Ben, who cared for people so much you wouldn’t be surprised if he sacrificed himself for the world. Your heart quickened at the thought of his warm smile and you felt yourself smiling too. You went to shower and got dressed. Grace knocked on your door a few moments later and called you for dinner. You followed her downstairs with a random book and read it, peeking at Ben between pages to look at his thick long eyelashes.

***********

It was night and you had an hour until bedtime. Vanya dropped by earlier, much to your surprise, and opened a conversation with you. You found that she was an excellent violin player and that she had no powers. You had told her that she was the strongest person you had ever met, being able to live here and being able to play the violin like a pro. She had laughed at the way you phrased your words and thanked you. You became such good friends in a such short conversation you almost couldn’t believe it, and Vanya told you that she had never felt so happy. You had grinned at that and flopped onto her like a puppy and said “Vaaaannnnnyaaaaaaaaaa” as if you were drunk, hiking up her laughter even more as you both fell onto the bed. Afterwards, however, Five had asked for her to company him and your conversation ended. Now, lying in your bed, you scratched off Vanya from the people you hadn’t talked to in this house. That left Luther, Allison, Five, and Pogo. You smiled at your progress and was just about to close your eyes for a little rest when you heard a small knock on your door. You sprung up from your bed and smoothed out your nightgown, hoping you didn’t look messy.   
“Come in.” You call out, deciding to sit on the bed with one of your legs dangled off to the side. Ben popped his head in and grinned at you.   
“Wassup? I hope I didn’t disturb you.”  
You grinned back and moved to the side of the bed, leaving space for him and patting the space on your bed next to you. He sat down obediently and held out his book for you to see. You widened your eyes at the name.  
“Oh my god you’re reading this too?!”  
He laughed at your reaction and replied: “Yeah, I thought you would’ve read it before so I brought the whole series in case you wanted to re-read it.”  
You grinned from ear to ear and exclaimed: “I just finished the first book a few weeks ago! I was just looking for the second! Thank you so much this is sooo cool! How did you know I read it before?”   
He smiled and slightly blushed. “Just a hunch. Wanna continue reading? Wait you were reading Again, but better yesterday. Are going to continue with that?”  
Your smile faded ever so slightly, and he noticed, panicking a bit. “Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry.”   
You shake your head and smile. “It’s ok Ben, it’s just that my sister passed away and that was her favorite.”   
His eyebrows furred together again and he frowned. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”  
“It’s alright, it wasn’t your fault. I’ll read the second book of the series if that’s okay with you?” You asked, raising your eyebrow.  
He nodded and handed you your book. The rest of the hour was spent in comfortable silence, with you leaning against the wall and Ben sitting straight on the bed. Once again you found yourself looking at him from your book, admiring his profile and his pink, full lips... He noticed you looking and looked up from his book as well, cocking his head to the side in question. You blushed and ducked back into your book like nothing happened. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Ben giving a coy smile and focusing back on his book again. 

The hour passed super fast and before you knew it Grace had come to your door and announced that it was time for bed. Ben closed his book, placing a bookmark, and stood up. You closed your book as well and smiled. Then, you got an extremely bold idea, and told Grace to give you a minute. She obliged, leaving your room to check on the other children, leaving you time to approach Ben to whisper something in his ear. A slow smile formed on his lips and he looked at you and nodded. You gave him a playful wink and waved him goodbye.

***********

You laid your head on Ben’s shoulder as you read the same book together. It was almost 12 pm, way after bedtime, and you were in Ben’s room, holding a flashlight so you could see the words the pages. It’s been four years since the day you asked Ben in a whisper if you could sneak in his room at night to read. After that night, you visited Ben whenever you could in the middle of the night by controlling the winds to fly yourself to his window, which he always left open for you. Ben closed the book when you finished the final sentence of a chapter and took the flashlight to turn it off as well. Once he turned it off, you both took off the huge thick blanket that you were concealing the light with. You head still on Ben’s shoulder, you sighed with satisfaction, and you both just sat there for awhile, a habit you made Ben develop because you believed it was always good to absorb information into your mind after a good reading. After a few minutes, Ben leaned his head on yours too, and judging from his steady breathing he had fallen asleep. You smiled and gently lifted his head, placing him on his bed properly and tucking in the sheets for him. You stayed next to him until your eyes got accustomed to the dark, and brushed his hair out of his face. You studied his features, something that you never got tired of. The crush you had on him only deepened and you felt as if he felt something for you too, but you were too scared of ruining the relationship you already had as friends. You and Ben were comfortable around each other, and you had shared your secrets with each other. You told him about your family, about your sister, about your fears, whereas he told you about his nightmares, his fear of his powers, his worries. Life was hard for both of you, and even though you both went on missions together, you still worried for one another. Your relationship with your family also improved, and you became best friends with Vanya. Of course, you were also good friends with the rest of the family, Luther, Allison, and Five proving to be very kind, but Five took longer to get to. About a year? Maybe? You even managed to earn some praises from Mr Monocles, who you decided would be called that for the rest of your life. Your expression softened when Ben turned towards you, and you leaned down towards him. An inch from his lips, so close that you could feel his breath on your skin. You licked your lips. If only you could kiss him. But you restrained yourself, because you knew that it wasn’t right. Sighing slightly, you climbed out the window and flew towards your own room. Going to sleep, your mind was fixed on Ben, and you dreamed about having a future with him. Somewhere far away from this house, somewhere free, somewhere where they had no worries about their powers and somewhere they belonged. You smiled as you drifted to sleep.

***********

You were jolted out of your sleep when the alarm blared and the lights flashed. You quickly climbed out of bed and threw on your uniform, combing down your tangled hair with shaking hands, and Mr Monocles walked about the house, banging on doors and yelling: “What’s taking so long, huh? How are we supposed to be superheroes when we can’t even get ready in time for battle?” His voice gets closer and closer and you sigh as you throw open the door, trying your best to look sharp. He nodded at you and said: “Very well Eight, now hurry along to get the rest of your siblings.” before briskly walking away. You gave him a nod and ran towards Ben’s room, since he was directly to your left and pushed open the door. You were met with a frowning Ben that was looking at himself in the mirror, combing through his hair and smoothing out his jacket.   
“Looking sharp, mister. You going out to impress some ladies today?” You tease, raising your eyebrow while casually leaning against the door. More like pretended to be casual and not rigid and trying to stop your heart from doing jumping jacks— god he was so handsome when he wore that uniform.   
He smiled lopsidedly and raised his eyebrow in return. “No miss, I’m only dressing up to impress you.” He did a fancy bow and you laughed. You took his outstretched hand and tugged him outside. You both ran down the corridor to the living room, where you saw Allison and Diego yawning, Five and Luther standing straight to attention. Klaus was nowhere to be seen. You let go of Ben’s hand once you reached where the four stood, but you still stood together, being Six and Eight, Vanya not standing in line with you. You saw her in the room, however, standing next to Mr Monocles with a sly smile on her face, gaze flicking between you and Ben. She smirked and you blushed. Somehow Vanya knew how to embarrass you and somehow she was the only person who made you blush in public. You removed your gaze from her, though, once a tired Klaus stumbled into the room and stood between Five and Allison. You frowned at him, showing concern, seeing the dark circles under his eyes, and mouthed what’s wrong?, in which he mouthed nightmare back, and turned his attention to Mr Monocles. Mr Monocles announced that there was a break-in in one of the banks, and everybody’s figures slumped. You knew what they were thinking. A bank? Again? But that’s happened like thousands of times? Why don’t these people learn their lessons and do stuff more fun? You also knew that Ben wasn’t thinking that. You knew that he slumped because another bank meant killing more people. Again. You brushed you hand against his reassuringly, and you felt him tense, then relax just a bit. 

When you arrived at the bank, you felt yourself tremble again. You always felt nervous before a mission, and you always felt worried for Ben. The doors are locked shut and everyone looks at you. You sigh and summon the winds, blasting them open, and knocking down the two thieves guarding the doors in the process. Everybody burst in, doing their usual procedure, Allison rumoring the leader, Luther beating up the thieves in front, Diego throwing knives to finish off the ones in the back, Klaus watching their backs and distracting any backup the men had, Five finishing off the rest scattered across the room, and you giving the finishing strikes on any people that were left. Then, then it was Ben’s turn to kill the mass of people in another room. He sighed, defeated, and walked into the room. You watched, wincing, as his tentacles slapped against the wall, splattering blood and flesh everywhere. When he came out, he was shivering and covered in blood. Then everything happened so fast. You were making your way towards Ben when you heard Allison scream “watch out!” and turned to see one of the thieves that was supposed to be knocked out by the doors aim his gun at Ben. Your expression turned from confusion to horror when you realized what the man was about to do. The man pulled the trigger, and you shut your eyes and screamed. All you feel is... pain? You open your eyes and wonder what happened. You must’ve summoned the winds to push you towards Ben, and you changed the route of the bullet using the wind, but it still hit you. You look down at your stomach. See blood seeping through your clothes. Hear Ben yell your name. See the man collapse as Klaus hit him over the head with a baseball bat, something that you would’ve laughed at if it didn’t hurt so, so much. It isn’t just the excruciating pain in your stomach. Your heart throbs as well with the thought of leaving Ben, and your knees give out underneath you. A pair of strong arms catch you and you distantly hear a “no, no, no, no” from Ben. He cradles your head in his arms and you smile slightly at the feeling. You cough and taste the blood in your mouth. You hear everybody rushing to get help, but you focus your eyes on Ben.  
“My Ben.” You realize that you said that out loud, but you couldn’t care less. You know you don’t have much time left, so you reach your hand up and brush a tear from his cheek. He holds your hand and sobs.  
“Ben, I love you,” you breathe, “I’ve always loved you. Since the beginning. Before, even. I used to talk about you with my sister.” You exhale slowly, feeling the darkness trying to drown you, but you struggle to keep aloft a while longer. “I’m sorry I had to tell.. to tell you like this. I.. I made plans for both of us.” Your breathing comes out ragged and Ben places your hand against his face.  
“Pogo and Reginald are coming. Mr Monocles. Stay with me, hey, stay with me.” He tilts your head that was lolling to the side to meet your wavering gaze. “The plans you made, I’d love to hear about them. Please Zoe, please.” A fresh wave of tears wet his face.  
You reach up weakly and smile. “It’s gonna... it’s gonna be ok..” You’re not even sure if you got the last words out. You close your eyes and drift into the darkness.

Ben POV

My world shattered into pieces when I watched her fall. Now, sitting next to her, holding her hand, I’m praying that she’ll come back to me. I’m praying that she’ll wake up again. A sob finds it way out of my throat. Allison rubs my shoulder, her eyes also red and puffy.   
“She’ll be fine,” Allison said, “she’s strong. She loves you too much to leave.”  
As I kiss Zoe’s hand I desperately hope that’s true. I look at her face and I almost laugh at how peaceful she seemed. As if she were simply asleep. Allison left me be. I hold Zoe’s hand on my forehead and cry silently. My body trembles and my mind decides to go back to every memory I had with her. 

The first time we met. She was beautiful and adorable and so utterly perfect. I remember staring at her, and then returning my gaze to the ground when she caught me looking. I remember staring at her when she demonstrated her powers, seeing the aura that she possessed. She radiated power and confidence at the moment when she looked at me, and I remember how her lips quirked up to a smile. It was then, I had decided, that I fell in love with her. Later that evening I found myself thinking about her, and so I acted out of impulse and visited her in her room. She was sitting on her bed with her upper body leaned back, and she had a book on her lap. I remember how sweet and clear her laugh was. I remember how Diego and Klaus had caught me with her, and how they teased me on the way back to my room. I remember feeling embarrassed. I remember waiting for her behind the door of her training room. I remember the way she hopped up to me with her hands behind her back. I remember her scent when she sat next to me. She smelled like flowers. I remember holding my hand out for her, heart hammering in my chest, wondering whether she’d take it or not. I remember how delighted I was when she took it. I remember walking ahead of her and hoping that my ears weren’t pink. I remember her slight blush. I remember how delicate her hands were. I remember how happy I was when she accepted my offer of reading together. I remember searching online for books that she might like. I remember how elated she was when I brought the books. I remember the way she looked in her nightgown. I remember peeking up from my book to glance at her. I remember her hair falling down in threads. I remember her smiling at some part of the book. I remember catching her looking at me. I remember the way her cheeks flushed pink and how she ducked back into the book. I remember the coy smile on her face when she asked me if she could visit me at night. I remember the way her breath tickled my ear and I remember how soft her voice was. I remember all those nights afterwards, when she would sneak in from the window and snuggle into the blankets with me, bringing a flashlight so we could read together. I remember how we used to joke about Mr Monocles. I remember the nights where we spilled our secrets with the dark hiding us. I remember that one night when I pretended to sleep and how she leaned in close, almost kissing me. I remember how disappointed I was when she pulled away and left. I remember the missions we had together, how she winked at me before doing something mischievous, and how she always wiped the blood off my face before hugging me tight. I remember the last mission, how she held my hand and ran with me down the hallway, how her hand brushed up against mine, calming me and sending chills down my spine as well. I remember... so much. The days, the nights, the talks, the everything. Everything became different when she appeared. She made everything more real, more bearable. The thought of seeing her was what pushed me out of bed every morning. Her arms around me was what got me through hard times. 

I haven’t even told her my feelings yet. I haven’t even gave her my first kiss yet. I haven’t done much with her yet. My overwhelming train of thoughts were interrupted by a twitching of her finger. At first I thought it was just my imagination, but then she opened by eyes, found me, and smiled. I sobbed with relief and pressed a button, calling for the others to come. I pressed my forehead against hers gingerly, and she gazed into my eyes.  
“Ben.” She whispered, and I felt her fingers intertwine with mine. I sighed, relishing her touch, her heat, her everything.   
We could’ve just stayed like that forever, but Five teleported suddenly and I almost jumped out of my seat. He rushed over to Zoe immediately and shoved me off her.  
“Hey,” I complained, “what—“  
I was cut off by Five shushing me harshly. He touched Zoe’s forehead and checked her pulse. Pogo and Reginald also came in and started a series of examinations on her. I felt a twinge of guilt as they pulled her clothes up from her stomach and checked the bullet wound. It should’ve been me, not her. She looked at me and gave a tiny smile. The three then backed away from her and announced to my siblings who were just bursting in, “She’s stable now.”  
I exhaled a breath of relief and collapsed onto my chair as I watched my siblings crowd over her. Pogo and Reginald left silently. My siblings fussed over Zoe but she just nodded and smiled at each of them. Vanya was more extreme, however, as she literally collapsed on Zoe’s bed and sobbed and repeated over and over that she thought she had lost her. My eyes stung at the sight, it was what I would’ve done if I let my real emotions show. Zoe was very calm, however, sitting up with difficulty and wincing slightly while patting Vanya’s head. Vanya lifted her red eyes to glance at her and she sniffled. Zoe smiled and gave her a light peck on the head. Vanya smiled at that too, and she wiped her tears away.   
Seeing that Zoe was up and able to give kisses, Klaus jumped up and exclaimed: “Hey where’s my kiss? I wanna kiss too!” He then knelt to the side of Zoe’s bed and tilted his head so Zoe would be able to reach his cheek. I intervened though, walking up to Zoe, wrapping my arms around her chest, and pouting.  
“She’s mine, you know. I’ll get jealous.”  
Klaus took one look at me and made a gagging sound, earning a giggle from Zoe and a grin from me.  
“Well then,” Diego said, “I know we’re all glad that Zoe is awake, but I think we should leave some time to the lovebirds.” He smirked at the last word and ushered everybody out. Five and Luther raised their eyebrows at me. Allison winked, Klaus smirked, and Vanya mouthed good luck.   
Once the door closed, Zoe raised her eyebrow slightly and said: “Well, I guess we have something to discuss about?”  
I gulped, the tone that Zoe used making me uneasy.

***********

You focused on the boy in front of you and asked: “Well, I guess we have something to discuss about?”  
Ben swallowed and nodded, fumbling with his shirt. You laughed then, suddenly, making your stomach hurt so you had to stop and take a few shallow breaths. Once you calmed down you spoke again.  
“Ben. So I guess I confessed my feelings to you? I wasn’t expecting to do it like that.” You admitted, feeling a bit shitty about it.   
He shook his head vigorously and scooched forward in his chair to hold your hand again. “I just wanna say...” He looked into your eyes. “I love you too. And I would love to listen to your plans for the both of us.” He smiled that slow, sweet smile and the sun shone on his face, lighting up his eyes and hair. He looked just like the boy that gazed at you with wonder the first day you demonstrated your powers. You smiled back and ruffled his hair.  
“So... I guess I’m your girlfriend?” You asked coyly.  
“Mmmm-hmmm.” Ben replied slyly.  
At that you threw yourself into his arms, ignoring the pain in your stomach and kissed him. Hard. Ben obviously wasn’t expecting it as he gasped against your lips and tensed, but he soon relaxed into your arms and deepened the kiss. You tangled your hands into his hair and he pulled your waist closer to him. When you finally pulled away, both of you were panting heavily and grinning despite his messy hair and your swollen lip. You looked at each other and he helped you out of bed.  
It was the best first kiss.

************

Four years later, after you fully recovered and moved out of the house, bidding goodbye to all of your siblings and promising to visit whenever possible, and moving into your new apartment with Ben, you got engaged to him. Laying in your bed bare with his arm curled around you, you replayed the scene over and over in your head. You returned from work late, about 8pm, and found Ben all dressed up waiting for you in the living room. You were surprised, seeing him in his suit and a candlelight dinner with your favorite food.   
“Ben...” You said slowly, “Is this what I think it is?” You walked towards him and gave him a kiss. He grinned at you and wriggled his eyebrows, but said nothing. You took his cue and went to the table to eat with him, chitchatting about work and his school. You talked to him casually, but your heart was beating really fast. You expected him to propose at the end of dinner. He did. 

Ben got down on one knee, cleared his throat, and said: “Zoe Hargreeves, will you marry me?”   
You covered your mouth with your hands and almost cried out.   
“Yes!!” You practically screamed, and fell on him, giving him kisses all over. He grinned from ear to ear and twirled you around in the air, you giggling and him laughing. Finally, he set you down and slid the ring onto your finger. He then nuzzled your neck.   
“Zoe Hargreeves, you are now officially mine.”  
You pulled away from the hug and scanned his face. He was beaming and you were too. You buried your face into his neck and inhaled his scent. You got an idea and ran your hands up and down along his arm. You leaned near his ear and whispered something.  
He grinned, nodded, and carried you to your room, trailing his kisses down your neck.

The next morning you woke up and read Again, but better before lunch.


End file.
